The Book of Fantasy

Publisher's WeeklyOriginally conceived of by its Argentinian editors in 1937, and now published in English for the first time, this unusual and provocative volume is an omnibus collection. In addition to stories by Ballard, Poe, Saki, Max Beerbohm, Ray Bradbury, May Sinclair, de Maupassant and Julio Cortazar, there are shorter pieces, anecdotes, folkloric fragments, dreamlike moments. Most of the 79 selections are only a paragraph or two long, giving us brief passage into magical visions of the world culled from the work of an international array of authors of the past three centuries, including less well-known authors such as Santiago Dabove, Edwin Morgan and Niu Chiao. The keynote tale may well be Borges's own ''Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius'' in which an imaginary world, conjured up by manufactured documentation, ends up eroding our reality: reality is malleable, and imagination necessarily subverts and alters it.

Library JournalHere are two fantasy anthologies that together effectively represent past and present examples of the genre. The Book of Fantasy contains 79 stories and poems from many sources. Originally published nearly 50 years ago in Argentina, updated in 1965, and available in English for the first time, this collection is based entirely on the editors' preferences, with contents ranging from light fantasy to grim horror. Though 19th-century classics predominate, there are many lesser known offerings from locales as diverse as South America and ancient China. In contrast, The Year's Best Fantasy is a new anthology made up entirely of the best stories and poems in 1987 American publications, offering over 35 examples of modern fantasy and horror from such authors as Joyce Carol Oates, Harlan Ellison, and Ursula Le Guin. This volume, intended as a companion to The Year's Best Science Fiction (St. Martin ' s), also includes two excellent summaries of fantasy and horror in 1987. Recommended. C. Robert Nixon, M.L.S., Lafayette, Ind.